Timbers sign midfielder Ryan Pore

March 12, 200911:00 AM PDT

PORTLAND, Ore. – The Portland Timbers have signed midfielder Ryan Pore to a two-year contract through the 2010 season, it was announced today pending league and USSF approval. The attacking, left-sided player joins the Timbers after four seasons with the Kansas City Wizards of Major League Soccer.

Pore, 25, played in 14 matches – including five starts – with the Wizards last season, recording one assist. He also added nine goals over the course of the 2008 MLS Reserve Division season, finishing second in the league in scoring.

“Ryan is an athletic player who looks to go forward and has a history of scoring goals,” said Timbers head coach and general manager Gavin Wilkinson. “As a left-sided player, he is a great compliment to the squad we are putting together.”

In four seasons with Kansas City, Pore played in 58 regular-season matches and recorded three goals and two assists. He had a breakout season in 2006, appearing in a career-high 19 matches and tallying a pair of goals. Over four seasons in the MLS Reserve Division, Pore totaled 31 goals and seven assists in 37 matches for the Kansas City reserves. He was selected by the Wizards 16th overall in the 2005 MLS SuperDraft.

“I’m excited for the opportunity to play in Portland,” said Pore. “I’ve heard nothing but good things about the club and the Northwest. I’m anxious to get to work.”

Pore, a native of Mansfield, Ohio, was a standout at the University of Tulsa. He led the team in scoring each of his three seasons with the Golden Hurricane and led the nation in scoring (55 points) and goals scored (22) as a junior in 2004. Following the 2004 season, Pore was one of three finalists for college soccer’s prestigious Hermann Trophy. He finished his collegiate career as Tulsa’s only two-time All-American and was named the Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year in 2003 and 2004. Pore tallied 51 goals and 21 assists in 63 games at Tulsa.

Pore will begin training with the Timbers on March 16, as the team starts its second week of preseason training at PGE Park.

The Timbers face the defending MLS Western Conference-champion New York Red Bulls in a preseason match March 20 at the University of Portland’s Clive Charles Soccer Complex at 7 p.m. Tickets are available for $10 at the PGE Park and UP box offices, area Ticketmaster outlets, online at www.ticketmaster.com or by phone at 1-800-745-3000.